Gum Diseases

In the early stages of inflammation, only the health of the gums is impaired among the tissues mentioned above. At this stage, the disease is called "gingivitis".

The disease known as "pyorrhea" among the public is periodontitis. Periodontitis causes abscesses to form around the teeth, causing the teeth to become loose and lost.

Disease Symptoms

• Bleeding when brushing your teeth
• Red, swollen and sensitive gums
• Gums that have moved away from your teeth
• Bad breath
• Inflammation leaking from between your teeth and gums
• Accumulation of tartar
• Loose teeth
• Disruption in the fit of your dentures

Various Factors Cause Disease

GENETIC FACTORS According to research, there is a 30% genetic predisposition. In addition, poor oral care increases the likelihood of developing gum disease by 6 times. If there is someone in your family who has gum problems, you should definitely see a gum specialist.

CIGARETTE As we all know, smoking causes many important diseases such as cancer, lung and heart diseases. Apart from all these, it is also very harmful for the oral mucosa and gums. It causes the gums to soften and gum diseases to develop.

MEDICATION USE Birth control pills, anti-depressants, heart medications affect your oral health. Therefore, if you are using one of these medications, please warn your dentist and pay special attention to your oral hygiene.

HORMONAL CHANGES You should pay special attention to your oral hygiene during periods of intense hormonal changes such as pregnancy, puberty, menopause, and menstruation. Your gums are more sensitive during these periods. The tendency to gum disease increases.

STRESS In addition to being one of the causes of many diseases such as hypertension and cancer, it is also a risk factor for gum disease. Research has shown that stress, including periodontal disease, makes it harder for the body to fight infection.

GRINKING OR CRUSHING TEETH They cause the force between the teeth and gums to decrease, causing periodontal tissue destruction. Another reason for gum recession is teeth grinding. This grinding must be stopped by wearing a night plate.

MALDIET It causes the body's immune system to weaken, making it harder for it to fight infections, including gum infection.

DIABETES Diabetic patients are at high risk for periodontal (gum) infection. They should definitely have their routine gum checks done by a gum specialist (periodontologist) and pay extra attention to their oral hygiene.

POORLY MADE RESTORATIONS Fillings, crowns and bridges that press on the gums and overflow cause problems in the gums.

Gingivitis

What is Dental Calculus?

Dental calculus (tartar) is a hard deposit formed by the calcification (calcification) of microbial dental plaque that is not removed from the teeth. When plaque calcifies, the bacteria in it lose their effectiveness and cannot synthesize disease-causing toxins.

However, although this seems to protect the health of the gums, the situation is not as it seems. Since dental plaque has an indented surface, it creates a suitable environment for newly formed plaque to adhere. Moreover, since the plaque accumulated on the dental plaque can no longer be removed with a toothbrush and dental floss, it calcifies and becomes a part of the stone underneath after a while. Dental calculus continues to accumulate in this way. The result is that the symptoms of inflammation in that area appear more severely.

Gingivitis

It is a clinical picture that occurs when only the gum loses its health among periodontal tissues. Inflammation has not spread to other periodontal tissues. In gingivitis, the gum is red and swollen. The roughness on its surface has disappeared and the tissue has become shiny. In gingivitis, there is bleeding from the gums while brushing the teeth, sometimes even spontaneously.

In the very early stages of gingivitis, increasing the patient's oral hygiene standard and informing a professional about microbial dental plaque may be sufficient for the treatment of the disease.

The treatment of established gingivitis is done with tooth surface cleaning (detertrage). In the treatment, which lasts at least two sessions, the aim is to increase the patient's oral hygiene standard, as in the treatment of all periodontal diseases.

Periodontitis

It begins with the chronic inflammation that begins in the gums passing to the periodontal ligament and alveolar bone. Soft and hard tissue destruction has now begun. The gingival groove has deepened with the swelling of the gums and the melting of the alveolar bone, creating a "pocket" around the tooth and becoming a suitable environment for proliferation.

This structural change in the tissues is called a 'periodontal pocket'. The existence and depth of the periodontal pocket are clinical criteria that help the dentist in diagnosis and treatment. Radiography (x-ray films) is also an indispensable auxiliary method in the diagnosis and treatment planning of periodontitis.

Periodontitis, except for its rare forms, is a very slowly progressing disease. It can continue its existence insidiously for many years. During this time, it has the characteristic of being a focus of infection that spreads through the lymph and blood, affecting the entire body and important organs.

A bad smell in the mouth and occasional bleeding into the gums may be observed.

As periodontitis progresses, gum recession may occur. This may result in sensitivity in the teeth to stimuli such as cold and hot.

Teeth may fan out and move away from each other, changing places. In more advanced stages, abscess formation may occur, and teeth may become loose. While tooth extraction becomes inevitable in many cases, it may also be possible for the tooth to dislocate during chewing of hard foods.

Gum Surgery

Root Surface Smoothing (Curettage)

Root surface smoothing, commonly known as curettage, is the process of scraping the attachments attached to the root surface with the help of special curettes, removing them from the surface and exposing the healthy root surface, allowing the gum to reattach to the root surface.

Gingivectomy and Gingivoplasty

In some cases, inflammatory, drug-induced or hereditary gingival enlargements are observed. If this gingival enlargement is not accompanied by osteoporosis or if there are no defects deep enough to require bone formation, we can remove the gingival enlargements by cutting the soft tissue wall of the pocket between the tooth and the gum. This procedure is called Gingivectomy. After this procedure, Gingivoplasty is usually applied to restore the normal physiognomy by surgically correcting the gum.

Flap Operation

If periodontal pockets cannot be shallowed by curettage and root surface smoothing, the gum forming the pocket is surgically removed. In very deep pockets, the gum is lifted as a whole and the necessary root surface smoothing procedures are performed underneath, closed and fixed in place with stitches. If the bone that has melted at this stage needs to be supported or if it is thought that bone can be formed in that area, hard tissue grafts or bone particles obtained from the patient's own tissue are placed in the defect area to try to regain the lost tissue.

Crown Lengthening Operation

It is a simple procedure performed to lengthen the parts of the teeth (the parts visible in the mouth) that remain above the gum level. In some cases, the decay or fracture extends below the gum level or the length of the teeth is very short. In such cases, it is necessary to extend the gum level towards the root for the retention of the prosthetic (crown, bridge, etc.) treatments to be performed and for gum health.

Tissue Grafts

Soft tissue grafts

It is the procedure of covering the significant gum recessions that occur in one or more teeth due to incorrect use of the toothbrush, anatomical errors or gum diseases with a piece of soft tissue taken from a different part of the mouth (usually the palate). It is usually done for aesthetic purposes or, in some cases, for preventive purposes to prevent the progression of gum disease.

Hard tissue grafts

During flap operations, bone formation is stimulated with artificial or natural bone powder applications in areas where bone loss is advanced.